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GOOD WILL HUNTING opens in LA and NY!!!!
Evil agent Moriarty twirls his crepe moustache and fondles the latex chin, after this review of GOOD WILL HUNTING. It is actually in theaters, but only in LA & NY I believe, which leaves the rest of us without a clue. I do know Siskel and Ebert liked it, but are they geeks? Probably, let's see if Ebert can figure out the referenced spy identity on the Jackie Brown review page!!! Anyway my money is on Moriarty, even if he did not like Starship Troopers. And boy did he hate it. Man, I reall... ahhhh forget it. Here's GOOD WILL HUNTING...
"Hey, Harry, Moriarty here. It's one of those days when it's good to
live in LA, as the new Gus Van Sant film GOOD WILL HUNTING opened here
today in limited release. I rounded up a couple of buddies and headed
over to the Beverly Connection for the first show. As a Writer's Guild
member, I got my first Christmas present of the year, since I didn't
have to pay for a ticket, using my Guild card as a pass instead. God, I
love this time of year.
"I'd heard quite a bit about the backstory for GOOD WILL HUNTING before
going into the theater -- the whole thing about Damon and Affleck being
friends since childhood, the original sale of the script to Castle Rock,
the last minute move to Miramax -- but I'd heard surprisingly little
about the film itself. To tell you the truth, I'm glad, because I was
able to just react to the film without having had a ton of hype crammed
down my throat.
"This is a remarkable picture, easily one of the year's best. Matt
Damon is given so much more room here to shine than he was in THE
RAINMAKER, and he makes the most of it. When you're an actor writing
yourself a lead role, the temptation would be to make it all fireworks.
Not so with this film, though. Both Damon and Ben Affleck give subtle,
grounded performances that feel very real. Stellan Skarsgard, who was
so amazing in last year's best film (BREAKING THE WAVES), is rocksolid
as the professor who discovers the extraordinary abilities of Will
Hunting, but it's Robin Williams who walks away with the movie. He's
never been this good, and I'm a fan of his dramatic work over the years.
This is the performance that finally brings it all together perfectly.
As Robin gets older, that big giant rubber balloon head of his manages
to get better and better at conveying a wellspring of sadness. In this
film, Van Sant taps that sadness expertly. Robin has also learned a
generosity as an actor, where he's not afraid to give the scene to
someone else. There's work between him and Damon that is just
jawdropping, one scene on a bench by a pond standing out as a particular
highlight. The chemistry between the two of them is magnetic. Their
scenes are like a dance, performed expertly by both parties.
"That's not to say that any of the work here shows. That's part of the
film's potent charm -- it makes it all look effortless. The screenplay
has a gradual, intelligent structure that takes its time establishing
character and situation. The payoffs are smaller and more sincere than
they would be in the major studio version of this film. For the first
time in his career, Van Sant is invisible as a filmmaker, simply getting
out of the way of the story and his performers. The film is richer for
it, too.
"Congratulations are due to both Damon and Affleck for creating a vanity
piece that somehow manages to also be a sincerely affecting film
experience, one I would recommend to anyone. When you get tired of
being disappointed by dreck like MORTAL KOMBAT, THE JACKAL, or (sorry,
Harry) STARSHIP TROOPERS, then check this picture out. It's enough to
reaffirm your faith in the cinema. I know it did mine."
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+ Expand All
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Sorry, couldn't resist. I am SushiX!
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to spin my web in
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Maybe not though. This movie sounds pretty cool, but I bet Robin Williams will suck in it.
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Heh heh.
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Jul 23, 2002 7:51:01 PM CDT
I've heard good things about this movie, when does it finall
by boris grushenko
I'm sick of L.A. and N.Y. getting all of the good movies first. Us movie-lovin' folks here in Buhl, Idaho are still waitin' for this movie. We loved the last Robin Williams movie that debuted here just two months ago, a movie by the name of Dead Poets Society. Strange that Mr. Williams would do two student-themed movies back-to-back like that. Has anyone else seen Dead Poets? I wus thinkin' about writin in with my report on the film, but I didn't want to get in trouble by the studio for spillin' the beans. *****SPOILER WARNING***** One of the kids in Dead Poets commits suicide. ******END SPOILER WARNING******* Also, it was nice to see the kid from White Fang again. I 'spect he'll make somethin' of hisself, maybe marry him a pretty girl one day.
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tis a shame...
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Now, that'd be a movie.
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We must be cautious
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